WE KEEP GOING: PART 6

Serres Beginnings

by: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

As we prepare to reopen the LHI Refugee Center in Serres, Greece (with team members quarantining for two weeks first and lots of regulations in place to keep the Yazidi refugees safe from the virus), we are reminded of everything we had to go through to open it in the first place. We hit many roadblocks and overcame many obstacles. But our determination won out. We kept going. Here’s the story…

LHI Founder/Director Hayley Smith stands in an abandoned dinghy that likely carried 40–50 refugees across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

In 2016, an independent humanitarian couple came across a large group of Yazidi refugee families living in a field in northern Greece, with only sparse amounts of food and water and the clothing on their backs. The families were there for a number of complicated reasons and were soliciting the Greek government for safety. They are survivors of multiple horrors: the 2014 genocide; dangerous smuggling to safety in Turkey; terrifying trip across the Aegean in a flimsy dinghy to Greece; and then to top it off, persecution by those who ought to protect them the most. 

Molly and Kyle at the grand opening of the LHI Refugee Center in Serres, Greece.

This couple, Molly and Kyle, would become the first directors of the LHI Northern Greece program when LHI funded water and fresh food for this large group of people. Since that humble start in 2016, we committed ourselves to following the Yazidi refugees wherever they went. And whatever the circumstances, if they weren’t going to give up, then neither were we. We kept going.

Eventually, they were settled in a camp in Serres, Greece. At first, we were only allowed to operate our distributions and language and yoga classes out of a tiny tent in an isolated corner of the camp. Conditions were far worse than ideal: the tent would flood, or the ground would get muddy. The living conditions were no better. No matter what, we kept going.

Before LHI’s Refugee Center opened, English was taught to Yazidis inside a small tent in a remote corner of the Serres camp.

At one point, they shut down the camp to clean it up and replace the tents with isobox container homes. The entire Yazidi population of the camp was moved to a city 75 kilometers away. We could have thrown in the towel, but instead we packed up our team, relocated with the refugees, and lived in a cramped motel for 3 months while we continued our classes and distributions. Despite the inconvenience, we kept going…

Next week, Hayley will continue the story about how the LHI Refugee Center in Serres, Greece got its start. To read it now, click here.

Click here to learn more about our work in Serres and support the LHI Refugee Center.

WE KEEP GOING: PART 5

Daily Double: Double Your Donation to Provide COVID-19 Aid to Refugees

by: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

A little more than a year ago, a representative of a wonderful foundation contacted us with a proposal. It’s always amazing to hear from this individual, proposal or not. She and I had met about a year before in Greece while she was visiting various projects in the Thessaloniki area. She is fiercely intelligent and curious, an ideal personification of the foundation she represents.

In Jordan, our Gather for Goats project provides Syrian refugee families with the life-enhancing gift of milk goats.

Anyway, this representative told me that she was in Jordan with her family and some time opened up where she could visit our Gather for Goats project. Let me tell you what—there are many things to do in Jordan on a day off, so the fact that she used it to visit a refugee site is another testament to her greatness. A meeting with our partner org in Mafraq was arranged and they took her to visit several recipient families.

After her visit, the foundation offered LHI a match grant to raise funds for the project (one stipulation of their match grants is that the foundation remain anonymous). A match grant is a conditional award granted only if we raise a certain amount of money through our own efforts. For every dollar you donate, the foundation matches it. Through this partnership and your generous support, we raised a total of $270,000, significantly expanding the goat program to hundreds of other Syrian refugee families.

As part of our “We Keep Going” campaign, the same foundation has offered yet another generous match grant for our current efforts to supply refugees with face masks, sanitizer, food, and other essentials to help those dealing with the consequences of COVID-19 while living in crowded refugee camps.

Through August, every dollar you donate will be matched! It doubles your donation, which doubles the amount of critical aid refugees will receive. Our goal is to raise $60,000, which when matched will become $120,000! This will enable us to provide COVID-19 aid to refugees for the rest of 2020. This is exactly the good news we need right now!

WORLD REFUGEE DAY: A QUICK HISTORY

by Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

People have been fleeing persecution, war, and natural disaster since the beginning of time. The Roman period saw groups of 100,000 at a time arrive from outside territories. 

Belgian refugees arriving in neutral Netherlands in WWI.

Fast-forward to modern industrialized warfare as we know it, when refugee numbers are staggering: 10 million in WWI & 60 million in WWII. Since no international agreement to recognize and protect refugees had ever been implemented, most pleas for resettlement or basic protection were rejected.

Refugees from East Germany, 1944.

For example, out of the 125,000 Jewish applications for resettlement in 1938, the USA only accepted 27,000. And then there was the SS Drottningholm incident, when a ship of 937 Jewish refugees were turned away from American waters. It’s heartbreaking to think of how many lives could have been saved had there been rules in place to recognize their right to asylum in a safe country.

Vietnamese “boat people” in the 1970s.

Luckily, in 1951 the newly created League of Nations (now the UN) recognized the need for international regulations. And this is exactly what World Refugee Day celebrates: the 1951 Convention, which saw 19 countries adopt the first international laws to recognize and protect refugees. The 200+ page document produced during the convention is one of the most seminal of the 20th century. 

Bosnian refugees in the 1990s.

The 1951 convention actually only covered Europe, since there were still many refugees waiting for resettlement years after the war. It seems like everyone thought that WWII was the war to end all wars, but as the century kept progressing, mechanized war around the world kept going. The 1967 Convention ratified the original document to include the entire world. And looking around these days, it’s a good thing those changes were made.

Syrian refugees arriving in Greece 2017.

As the executive director of a humanitarian organization that focuses on refugee aid, I’m somewhat conflicted about World Refugee Day. Let me explain: 140+ countries have signed the convention. Yet, several wealthy countries have started picking and choosing which articles of the convention to actually follow. And since there is no body that oversees adherence to the rules, refugees are being turned away when they should be accepted.  

So, let’s dedicate World Refugee Day (Saturday, June 20, 2020) to not only honoring refugees, but also to recommitting ourselves to do whatever we can to take make sure that the 1951 convention does not fade into history.

You can help refugees around the world. Click here to find out how you can start now.

WE KEEP GOING: PART 4

Repeat After Me: ana baHki shway arabi (I Speak a Little Arabic)

by: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

It feels like my life is a series of feeble attempts to thank people for their incredible generosity: The sweet family that took a shy American student into their home in Fes, Morocco; every single donor who keeps LHI afloat; the many LHI volunteers and leadership team members who pour so much of their love and intelligence into our programs. The list goes on and on.

Hayley (top) teaches an online Arabic class for three LHI volunteers.

So, when the COVID-19 quarantine started in March, it seemed like a good time to offer remote Arabic classes to LHI volunteers, both past and present, as a way to thank them for their time spent at the LHI Refugee Center in Greece. Many had previously expressed interest in learning Arabic, since it is an especially helpful language to know in the humanitarian field.

15 students and two months later, our classes are still going strong, and the students are making amazing progress! 

Why Arabic?

Ever since I started learning Arabic at college (it was a toss up between Arabic, Gothic literature, and indoor volleyball: no-brainer), it has changed my life in ways I never could’ve anticipated. The most powerful way hands down is the unmatched hospitality and depth of friendship that the Arab culture is famous for. And being able to speak Arabic bridges a massive communication and cultural gap that can exist between humanitarians and beneficiaries. 

One reason LHI even exists is because of honest and open conversations I’ve had with Arabic-speaking refugees, who were able to express in their own words what they needed in order to survive (both physically and psychologically) years of living in a painful limbo. 

Classes

Hayley uses worksheets like this to help her students learn Arabic.

Since the beginning of April, I’ve been teaching 15 students divided between two classes of LHI volunteers. It’s a fast-paced course in both writing and speaking Levantine Arabic, the dialect widely spoken in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. There aren’t a lot of resources for teaching this dialect, so it does require some lesson planning and creating accessible and fun audio resources. 

At the end of the day, the course is a good foundation on which to build in the future. It also has helped us all get through quarantine. Rosie, who has volunteered at the LHI Refugee Center, is taking the course: “No matter what people learn or take away from Arabic classes, the course gives me structure, a break from lockdown, a chance to see different faces, to train the brain, something to focus on, a purpose and sense of achieving something during lockdown.”

So, repeat after me: 

ana baHki shway arabi (I speak a little Arabic)

أنا بَحْكي شَوي عَرَبي. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of our “We Keep Going” blog series to learn more about how LHI continues our mission to help refugees at home and abroad in the midst of a global pandemic.

WE KEEP GOING: PART 3

LHI's Virtual Choir:
Assembling a Message of Hope

by: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

Hayley Smith, LHI’s founder/director working on the video.

It’s safe to say that these days we can truly appreciate our built-in need for mobility, routine, exercise, and mental stimulation, to see friends and family, to have a personal physical space to maintain sanity. 

You can imagine how painful it was to temporarily shut the doors to our refugee center in Greece, halting those exact activities to those who have been in a state of uncertainty and isolation for years. 

It’s so awful to see them experience more fear than they already have. I was trying to figure out how we could cheer them up, and the idea of putting together one of those collage videos that have been going around popped into my head. That way, they could see familiar faces and hear beautiful music being sung directly to them. I reached out to our volunteer community and was completely overwhelmed with the response.

Roos Meijer, singer/songwriter and former LHI volunteer

Roos Meijer, a singer/songwriter and former LHI volunteer who studies at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, graciously lent us her beautiful voice and one of her own compositions called Dance ’Til We Win from her EP, Maktub (click here to check out on Soundcloud). 

40 singers and musicians joined their voices together to create this beautiful performance. 

The process of making a virtual choir is really involved. 

• Each singer or musician had to record themselves singing along to Roos’s master track.

• I edited the video, one part at a time — melody, tenor, bass, alto and soprano. 

• Daniel Pines, a recent graduate from the Berkley School of Music, who plays violin in the video, lent us his professional audio mastering skills to make the song sound as stunning as it does. 

As you can see, everything in the video, from the songwriting, to the arrangement, to the final production and mixing, was done by LHI volunteers. 

Someone asked if I got sick of the song, since it took me 100 hours to edit. Not at all. I was close to tears every single time I watched it. 

While we wanted to bring familiar faces to Yazidis in Serres, Greece, the song and its message of hope is universal, and we hope it reaches as many refugees around the world as possible.

Here’s the video again, in case you haven’t seen it yet:

WE KEEP GOING: PART 2

LHI Refugee Center in Greece Goes Digital

In non-COVID-19 times, the LHI Refugee Center in Serres, Greece, is a huge program with dozens of daily classes and activities providing healing and education for hundreds of Yazidi refugees. It normally takes a team of 25+ volunteers and program managers to keep it running.

And thanks to our team’s commitment to keep going, the psychosocial aspects of the program are still running remotely during the pandemic! From their lockdowns in Italy, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Finland, the team started a Facebook Page to deliver a number of online classes and resources to the same Yazidi population that would normally attend classes in person.

Members of LHI’s Refugee Center leadership team made this video to share with the Yazidi population (with whom they normally work in person at the Center) at the beginning of the quarantine as an introduction to the online learning program. “Bashi” is hello in Kurmanji!

Some of the educational video titles available are shown in the screenshots below. I mean, wouldn’t you want to watch some?

Here’s more info about the LHI Educational Facebook Page: 

• Every program uploads 1-2 videos per week. 

• Videos are all created by LHI volunteers. That includes international and some resident Yazidi volunteers who live in the camps near the LHI Refugee Center!

• The Education program uploads 1 video per level per week (10 videos per week)

• Live question sessions for English language learning are held every Saturday

• Many of our previous volunteers are engaged in this new project

• This effort continues our engagement with the Yazidi community in Serres

Nick, Margaux, and Millie in LHI’s aid distribution warehouse. Serres, Greece.

While these efforts enable us to continue providing programming remotely, there’s one program that simply can’t be managed this way—food and hygiene supply distributions. We’re so grateful that 3 members of the leadership team (Nick, Margaux, and Millie) stayed in Greece to ensure that these aid distributions continue to happen. Thank you!

WE KEEP GOING: PART 1

Our organization’s small size has always allowed for flexibility in how we fulfill our mission: we provide humanitarian aid to refugees, both at home and abroad. In March, as Covid-19 continued to spread across the world and confirmed infection numbers were doubling on a daily basis, it became clear that vulnerable refugees living in overcrowded and unsanitary camps needed more hygiene aid more than ever. So, as ever, we’ve been able to adjust quickly to keep going.

We Keep Going has become a sort of rallying cry for us as an organization and a motto to show our supporters that nothing will stop us from doing what we can for refugees around the world. When we temporarily shut the LHI Refugee Center in Greece, our team started an online program and kept going. When our team of 25 amazing people was forced to leave the Center, 3 stayed behind to ensure that the 1,100+ Yazidis get our crucial distributions of aid. When shelters along our southern border started running out of basic necessities like soap for Central-American families seeking asylum, we shipped some to them. And when we asked our volunteers, past and present, to participate in an inspirational project to send a message of hope to refugees around they world, they did this:

The next few blog posts in this series will illustrate in greater detail some of the origins and outcomes of our adaptability in times of flux and uncertainty. Stay tuned!

How Does LHI’s Beyond Borders Program Deliver Aid to Refugees Around the World?

If you missed part 1, click here to check it out.

In part 1, we learned how LHI obtains humanitarian aid supplies. In part two, we’ll explore how LHI gets those supplies from their warehouse in American Fork, Utah, into the hands of refugees around the world.

Part 2: Delivering the Goods

Volunteers sort through donated items in preparation for a shipment.

Once aid supplies are at our warehouse (having been gathered by volunteers at more than three dozen drop-off locations or delivered after being purchased by supporters from our Amazon Wishlist), volunteers begin sorting through it all, checking expiration dates on food and hygiene items. Everything is sorted and boxed by item or kit, clearly labeled, and moved to the appropriate location in the warehouse depending on where it will be shipped (we collect supplies for multiple shipments at the same time).

Oh, so where do we get all the boxes? Some boxes are provided by our partner org, Helping Hand for Relief and Development. Others come from a generous local donor who supplies us with clean boxes that were previously used to hold envelopes. It’s important for the boxes to be the same size so they will fill the space inside the shipping containers as efficiently as possible.

Items are logged into a spreadsheet to speed along the customs process.

Every box is numbered and every donation is logged into a spreadsheet, which helps us track what we have sent and ensures that the container gets through customs in an efficient manner. Aid supply numbers from the spreadsheets also provide information to update our online Shipment Tracker, enabling our supporters to check the status of shipments and see photos of the aid being distributed to refugees around the world.

A full container, ready to ship!

Once we have enough labeled boxes to fill a 40’ shipping container, we contact HHRD and make arrangements to have a container delivered to our warehouse for loading. On social media, we advertise the need for volunteers to help us load it. We can usually have the container filled with a team of volunteers in 2 hours or less. Once fully loaded, we put a seal on it and send it on its way!

We love seeing their smiles!

When the container arrives at its destination port, it goes through the standard customs process. Once it clears customs, HHRD or their partner org on the ground delivers the supplies to their final destination for distribution. After the distribution is complete, we receive a distribution report with information about the beneficiaries and pictures of the aid being distributed. Seeing the smiles on their faces is our favorite part. It makes all the hard work worth it!

Click here to learn more about our Beyond Borders program!

LHI’s humanitarian aid warehouse is home to three different programs that provide aid to refugees. Through our Beyond Borders program, we deliver aid to international destinations, and each shipment gets distributed to tens of thousands of refugees. We also provide aid to asylum seekers at our southern border through our Border Aid program. Finally, through our Welcome program, we assist resettled refugees by providing them with basic household items, allowing them to use the small stipend they receive for other necessities like transportation to their jobs, rent payments, etc.

How Does LHI’s Beyond Borders Program Deliver Aid to Refugees Around the World?

In this two-part series, we’ll explore exactly what it takes to collect, sort, pack, ship, deliver, and distribute aid supplies to help refugees around the world.

Every week at LHI’s Humanitarian Aid Warehouse in American Fork, Utah, volunteers help us sort, pack, and fill industrial-sized containers of aid supplies that will ship to refugees in locations around the world as part of our Beyond Borders program. Sounds simple, right? But what really goes into it? How do we get the supplies? How do we even determine what is needed, and where? And how has the COVID-19 pandemic changed daily operations? Read on to find out!

Part 1: Gathering Supplies

Under normal circumstances, preparing an aid shipment begins with research. We investigate places around the world that are currently experiencing a refugee crisis, then present these locations to our partner org, Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD). HHRD then lets us know if they have teams on the ground in those locations, or if they have partner orgs on the ground that can receive and distribute our aid shipments.

LHI investigates places around the world that are currently experiencing a refugee crisis. Why do we often ship aid instead of acquiring it locally? Click here to learn why.

Common aid supplies include personal hygiene items, clothing, and school supplies.

Once we determine a location, we request a list of the most needed supplies for the refugees living there. The list is always different, and knowing what is not needed is just as important as knowing what is. Supplies that aren't really needed can be a hindrance, and they take up valuable container space that could have otherwise been filled with needed items. So from the initial needs list, we create our own list of items that will be feasible for us to collect, pack, and ship. Then we begin sharing our needs list with people just like you through social media and on our website.

Using our needs list as a guide, we also create a list of “kits.” Our kits lists are posted on social media, our website, and other service organization websites, so individuals and groups wanting to help us collect needed aid can do so in the form of service projects. This enables larger numbers of people to get involved, multiplying the impact of their efforts. Businesses, schools, family reunions, church groups, and individuals all come forward to help collect donations and make kits.

Volunteers prepare aid supply kits.

Donated items collected at our drop-off locations all throughout Utah are delivered to our warehouse.

Once the community members have collected items for donation, they contact us to request a drop off location near them (we have more than three dozen drop-off locations throughout Utah). And when a drop-off location has accumulated a carload, truck full, or trailer full, they bring the donations to our warehouse in American Fork, Utah.

Interested in donating aid supplies?

Click here for information about our current needs for donated aid supplies.

Donate Aid Supplies Online.

Individuals everywhere can use our Amazon Wishlist to purchase needed items, and those items will go to our warehouse (we frequently update our wishlists to reflect current needs).

Thanks for reading! Next week, we’ll continue with Part 2: Delivering the Goods. Check back to find out what happens once aid supplies arrive at our warehouse. Be well!

Click here to learn more about supporting our Beyond Borders program.

Volunteer Spotlight: Carlissa!

LHI’s Humanitarian Aid Warehouse in Utah is home to its Beyond Borders program, which was started by volunteer Carlissa Larsen in 2016. Now she serves as Volunteer Co-Director of Utah Operations.

Q: Why did you start the Beyond Borders project?

Edward Everett Hale once said "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

When I first started hearing of the refugee crisis, reading the stories in the news and seeing the pictures, I realized that I could not stand idly by and watch the suffering of these men, women, and children without doing something. I had to do something. Like many of you, a humanitarian trip overseas was not realistic for me and my circumstances, so volunteering through LHI became the "something" that I could do. I understood that by myself I could do very little, but collectively, with the help and support of the community, the impact, and the good that we could do would be endless. And so I started the Beyond Borders project. Alone I could do something, but together with the combined efforts of the community we could relieve suffering in innumerable ways. My mission then became, and is now, to implore you to consider, what is the "something" that you can do? I encourage you to do it.

 Q: What would you like people to know about the global refugee situation?

No matter how dark the world refugee situation may seem, there is always a flame of hope. But someone must hold the candle. There is something that everyone can do, and when we unite our efforts, no matter how small our individual flames may be, the combined warmth can ignite a blazing hope that cannot be ignored, illuminating the fact that there is still good in this world. That kindness can still prevail, and humanity is not lost. So pick up your candle and strike a match. Or just as important, pick up your pen and write a check. Do something about the inhumanity you see in the world. You are not the future. You are the present. And you have the power within you to make the world a better place from right where you are, right now. So change the world. 

Q: You mentioned that there is something for everyone to do. Many people want to help refugees, they just don’t know how. Can you share some ideas of things that people can do to get involved with the Beyond Borders project?

This is actually one of the reasons I got involved with LHI. I saw that LHI provides the how. Here’s a list of just some of the ways you can start helping refugees right now:

• Like us on social media and share our posts, especially our needs posts.

• Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

• Host a service project collecting items and making needed kits (school kits, hygiene kits, etc).

• Donate needed humanitarian aid supplies. Purchase items through our Amazon Wishlist and they will be shipped directly to our Humanitarian Aid Warehouse!

• Donate cash to support Beyond Borders.

• Host a small fundraising event like a dinner with friends and ask them to donate what they would pay for the price of their meal if they were to eat out.

• List LHI as your Amazon Smile charity so Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchases to help us help refugees.

• Make a blanket, a beanie hat, a scarf, or a drawstring backpack.

• Explore our website or email us for additional information and more ways to help.

If you are in Utah, you can also:

• Volunteer at our warehouse to help us sort and box humanitarian aid supplies.

• Volunteer to help us load the shipping containers.

• Register your Smith’s grocery card with LHI as your charity of choice and then every time you shop with your Smith’s card, Smith’s will donate a percentage of your purchase to help us help refugees.
  

Thank you so much, Carlissa, for your dedication to helping refugees around the world!

Click here to learn more about getting involved with our Beyond Borders program!

Volunteer Spotlight: Loren!

Q: Will you please tell us who you are and share a few details about yourself?

My name is Loren Thomas. I am 67 years old, a retired school district superintendent and college administrator from the US. I hold 3 masters degrees (Philosophy, Religion, Education) and a doctorate. My career in education spanned 45 years. Along the way I have done other volunteer work; with Southeast Asian refugees in Philadelphia and New Jersey, in a Quaker school in Costa Rica, as a hospitalero in albergues along the Camino de Santiago. My current goal is to continue to work, but only as a volunteer, in ways that use my background, education, experience in the service of other people. 

Q: What is your position at LHI, and what is a typical day at the Refugee Center like for you?

Initially I came to Serres to volunteer with Lifting Hands International, thinking I would teach yoga and English. But, the need for English teachers far exceeds the need for yoga teachers. So, I teach 4 English classes per day, all different levels from "pre-ABC" (no English at all) up through Level 3 (about equivalent to middle school reading level in the US). My "work day" is noon to 6 PM, and occasionally I teach the conversation hour or participate in yoga from 6-7 PM. I need to run and mediate daily and I find the morning time perfect for both of those as well as preparation time. To be honest, it is harder than I had anticipated. But, being here is quite meaningful. I am learning a lot and feel moved to be getting to know my Yazidi students.

Q: What have you learned while working in Serres?

Two things strike me from this experience. First, I am so impressed with the friendliness, kindness, and optimism of the Yazidi. In spite of all that they have suffered, most of those I've met are fun and optimistic about their lives. They want to come to class and are anxious to learn and appreciative that we are here. Second, I am struck by the volunteers. On average, I am about 4 decades older than they are. So, for obvious differences in culture and age, I haven't really "socialized" with my colleagues. But, in every conversation I am struck by these smart, well educated (most have masters degrees), multi-lingual young men and women. They could be fast-tracking their careers. But they are here—giving, learning—and having their lives changed forever. As one "on the other side" of adult life, I feel greatly encouraged about the future and how this generation of young men and women will contribute to the world. I am leaving feeling thankful, grateful for all those I've met, and encouraged about what can happen in the world.

Thank you so much, Loren! We share your optimism!

Click here to learn more about our Refugee Center in Serres, Greece.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jeanne!

Q: Will you please tell us who you are and share a few details about yourself?

A: Hey, my name is Jeanne, I’m 21 and I’m from France. I’m currently on a gap year between my bachelor and my masters (in geopolitics). I volunteered in France for other organizations but this is my first time getting involved for a long run and in a foreign country.

Q: What is your position at LHI, and what is a typical day at The Refugee Center like for you?

A: I’m in the Child-Friendly Space (CFS). In the morning, we have warehouse shifts (sorting out clothes, counting diapers) or activities for older kids on the weekends (football, dance, kids yoga). In the afternoon, I’m in the tent with the CFS kids (2–6 year olds) playing doctors, coloring, or building train rail circuits. My day can end with Conversation Hour, where I get to interact with the adult residents.

Q: What have you learned while working in Serres?

A: I’ve learned a lot thanks to the amazing and inspiring people that are a part of my experience. I’ve learned how to be with kids. My English has gotten better, as well. I’ve had responsibilities and I feel people have trusted me which is so rewarding. Focusing on the daily basics, on what’s important, seeing someone smiling or hearing a kid laughing is also something I’ve learned to value in Serres. My convictions are reinforced because LHI showed me that there is such a thing as human solidarity.

Thank you so much, Jeanne!

Click here to learn more about our Refugee Center in Serres, Greece.

Gather for Goats: First Distribution of 2020!

During the first week of January, Hayley Smith (LHI Founder/Director) and Walker Frahm (LHI Chief Operations Officer) traveled to Al Mafraq, Jordan, to distribute the first round of goats in 2020 to Syrian refugee families living in the desert. During this trip, 216 goats were distributed to 108 grateful families.

How many LHI staff members does it take to distribute 216 goats to Syrian refugee families in Jordan? Two! Along with a translator, a goat expert, and a few friends…

Hayley Smith (LHI Founder/Director) prepares to distribute goats to Syrian refugee families!

In theory, it sounds straightforward. Raise money (thank you to all of our amazing supporters!), use it to buy milk goats in Jordan, and give them to Syrian refugee families. But what does it really take to get healthy goats to families with the greatest need? Read on to find out!

In 2017, while distributing aid supplies to refugees living near the town of Al Mafraq in Jordan (very near the Syrian border), Hayley asked what their greatest needs really were, in addition to the supplies they had already received. They shared that they were very, very thankful for the aid supplies. But if there was one thing that would really help their day-to-day situation, it would be… Goats!

Back in Syria, the families had large herds of goats. Tens, sometimes even hundreds of goats. In fact, they had been herding goats for generations. Being a goat farmer was a respected profession in Syria before the war. Goats provide a much-needed source of protein, which is hard to come by in the desert. Having goats again would set them up with a sustainable source of milk for several years. And by selling or raising baby goats, they could generate income to help get them back on their feet again.

The request made a lot of sense, so Hayley set out to find a way to make it work. She consulted a professor of agriculture from the University of Jordan in Amman to determine what breed of goat would best meet the need. He suggested Shami goats, a breed that produces milk 10 months out of the year and is well-adapted to living in the desert. Perfect!

Rashid is the director of Jabal Zamzam, a charity based in Al Mafraq, Jordan, that works with vulnerable populations, including local Syrian refugees.

In order to identify families in need and help find a reliable, local source for goats, Hayley partnered with Jabal Zamzam, a charity based in Al Mafraq whose mission is to help marginalized, vulnerable, and powerless groups in the local community, including refugees.

Working with Rashid, the director of Jabal Zamzam, they identified a local goat supplier that could provide healthy, young, Shami goats. Rashid then helped locate families living in local refugee camps who would benefit most from the gift of goats, such as those with young children and elderly family members. After the goats are distributed, he would also check in with each family periodically to get reports of baby goats being born and to help arrange for veterinary care, as needed.

Walker Frahm (LHI Chief Operations Offer) coordinates logistics associated with our goat distribution program, including managing operations on the ground.

Now it was time for Walker Frahm to jump in. Walker is LHI’s chief operating officer, and he is responsible for all the logistical plans including buying the goats, arranging for the goat breeder to deliver the goats to refugee camps, and overseeing distribution to the families identified by Jabal Zamam.

Walker wanted to be certain that the goats LHI buys are healthy, young, and will provide a good supply of milk for the families. So he enlisted the help of Mohammed, a goat expert with training from the University of Jordan. Mohammed inspects each goat prior to distribution, and only the youngest, healthiest goats pass his examination.

Mohammed is a goat and agricultural expert from the University of Jordan. He makes sure only the healthiest goats are distributed to Syrian refugee families.

When it came time to distribute goats, Hayley's Jordanian friend, Shadi, joined in on the action. He’s from Amman, about two hours south of Al Mafraq, and has lived in Jordan most of his life. Hayley speaks fluent Arabic, but there are some variations between the Arabic spoken in Jordan and Syria. Shadi helped make sure that all communication with the refugee families went smoothly.

Thanks to the hundreds of donors who gave generously during our Gather for Goats fundraising campaign in Sep–Oct 2019, we raised enough to provide 1,000 milk goats to refugees. During this trip, Hayley and Walker, along with Rashid, Mohammed, and Shadi, distributed 216 of those goats to 108 needy families.

Hayley speaks Arabic, but it’s handy to have someone from Jordan like Shadi around to help make sure everything is communicated clearly.

As a special part of the campaign, donors were able to name a goat for every $300 they donated, and LHI has sent them photos of their goats along with Geotags of their distribution locations. Check out the gallery of photos below to see all of the 123 named goats! Hayley posed for a photo with each and every one of them. Thank you for doing that, Hayley, and thanks so much to everyone who makes this work possible!

To date, 1,126 goats have been distributed, and more than 1,850 baby goats have been born!

For every $300 given, donors were able to submit a name for the goat their funds provided. Above are the pictures of the named goats! Donors received these photos via email, along with a Geotag showing their goat’s approximate location and some basic info about the beneficiary families.

Volunteer Spotlight: Liam and Esther!

Q: Will you please tell us who you are and share a few details about yourselves?

A: Liam, 26, from England. Anthropology graduate and English teacher with no previous volunteer experience.

A: Esther, 27, from The Netherlands. Psychomotor therapist, development anthropology postgraduate wanting to use bodily-based, creative ways to support the mental health of people coming from conflict. Volunteered in a counselling center in Uganda with women that had gone through the war with the Lords Resistance Army, and co-founded a non-profit working with creative self-expression in Zambia.

Q: What is your position at LHI, and what is a typical day at The Refugee Center like for you?

A, Liam: I’m an English teacher, I have 3 lessons a day, which I plan for in my spare time. I also help out with women's self-defense classes.

A, Esther: I’m a yoga & dance instructor. For both of us the day starts early. Liam has English classes in the morning, and I start the day with women's fitness and women's yoga. When we have a break we go to a local cafe to prepare our work. In the afternoon, Liam often goes to do a work out with the residents during the men's weights sessions, and then teaches self-defense to some of the women. I often do games and sessions with children, and finish the day with more yoga. :)

Q: What have you learned while working in Serres?

A, Esther: On my first day here, it felt like I had never done yoga! I all of a sudden got very insecure, and working with LHI really gave me an opportunity to experiment with yoga and meditation, finding what suits the residents, and what my own style is. It taught me how to use yoga—also for the kids activities—in a way that is both meaningful and fun.

A, Liam: This was my first experience teaching English after getting qualified to do so, and I felt very nervous at first. The experiences have taught me a lot about using my skills and have given me the confidence and self-belief to continue with my teaching!

Thank you for all you do, Liam and Esther!

Click here to learn more about our program and Refugee Community Center in Serres, Greece.

6 Fast Facts about LHI's Northern Greece Program

By: Hayley Smith, LHI Founder/Director

The LHI Refugee Center in Serres, Greece is a buzzing hive of activity where we provide myriad therapeutic psychosocial services that provide structure, opportunities to progress, and healing. Many people are unfamiliar with exactly what we do there, so here are 6 fast facts about the program that explain it a little more:

Here I am doing some acro-yoga with Virginia, our awesome arts and recreation volunteer!

1. We don’t run a refugee camp! Rather, we run a community center next to two refugee camps (Greece runs the camps with funding from the United Nations). The second camp only opened a couple of months ago, the first just over 3 years ago. We’ve been providing services since the very beginning.

2. All of the 1,000+ residents of the camps are Yazidi, an ethnic/religious minority who experienced genocide. Most of them will eventually relocate to Germany or The Netherlands, but it takes years of waiting. 

3. The Center’s main focus is providing psychosocial support, which “helps individuals and communities to heal the psychological wounds and rebuild social structures after an emergency or a critical event,” (UNICEF). Psychosocial support is just as important as critical as crisis response.

4. Our psychosocial services are based on UN recommendations and include English and German classes, a designated women’s space, a children’s space, group music classes, fitness and trauma-informed yoga for both men and women, drama-therapy activities, community events, opportunities to volunteer as an official part of our volunteer team, and more.

5. Hundreds of Yazidis attend our daily services. Their feedback is that while they’re at the Center, they don’t think about their trauma. They focus on taking advantage of any way to progress, to grow in knowledge, to be part of something, and enjoying the support of independent volunteers who are there just for them.

6. We also distribute much needed aid. Many refugees go without, simply because they don’t have the means to provide for themselves. We distribute bulk dry foods (flour, oil, sugar), summer and winter clothing for each refugee in the two camps, diapers, feminine hygiene items, and also personal hygiene items.

Computers provides a connection to the outside world for refugees from nearby camps.

Language classes taught at our Refugee Center help with preparation for resettlement.

I hope this gives you a little more information about what goes on at our Refugee Center in Serres, Greece!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM